The Four-Tails and Five-Tails had been chosen as the Tailed Beasts' official "sacrifices."
Since the others had deliberately hidden the Great Toad Sage's actual, horrifying prophecy from Son Gokū, they naturally had no intention of warning him not to use Sage Mode in front of Naruto.
In fact, Kurama and Naruto had personally told the Four-Tails all about Naruto's diplomatic campaign to spread Sage Mode across the shinobi world.
They had even casually passed along the classified information that Ōnoki was training alongside his disciple and son.
That was exactly how Rōshi learned so many specific details.
As for what would happen if Son Gokū and Rōshi genuinely mastered Sage Mode together and demonstrated it right in front of Naruto? Kurama had already prepared an elaborate excuse to fool his dense host.
Over in Iwagakure, Rōshi's aggressive demands forced Ōnoki to share Konoha's highly classified senjutsu manual, and the two began training together in secret.
...
Meanwhile, in Amegakure, Yugito brought up the Great Toad Sage's terrifying prophecy while having dinner with Makoto.
Speaking directly on Matatabi's behalf, she asked whether he had any tactical way to resolve it.
If there truly was no alternative, Matatabi would have to follow Kurama's manipulative suggestion and find herself a human "cat owner."
If that happened, Yugito would also have to permanently remain in Amegakure.
Not that she particularly disliked the idea.
Makoto had already understood the entire situation before Yugito even asked.
Rin had told him about Matatabi's desperate plan to find a cat owner to escape Naruto's degenerate hands.
After all, every Tailed Beast except the Four-Tails and Five-Tails had attended the emergency meeting inside Naruto where the plan was forged.
Makoto also completely understand Yugito's sheer anxiety.
Most people in the shinobi world had only read the printed, censored versions of the stories.
Yugito, however, had once come to Amegakure with Samui and personally watched the complete, uncensored cinematic cut of the Limited Tsukuyomi.
Those disturbing scenes had dealt a tremendous psychological blow to Yugito's previously innocent mind.
There was Namikaze Minato declaring, "Becoming obsessed with Tailed Beasts is simply human nature. No one in the shinobi world can resist their captivating bodies."
Then Naruto had declared, "Kurama, you are no longer a wild and unrestrained fox. You are my wife."
Well, technically, that had been his alternate universe counterpart, Uzumaki Menma.
But there was hardly any difference!
Then there had been Rōshi and Son Gokū whispering intimately to each other, with the giant Four-Tails wrapping his arms around Rōshi and saying with a filthy expression, "Rōshi, say my name. I want you to say my name every single day."
The only thing Yugito could be truly grateful for was that her Limited Tsukuyomi counterpart hadn't appeared in anything too deranged.
She had merely performed a little lesbian routine alongside Samui.
Because the Limited Tsukuyomi had shown everyone else's twisted fates so vividly, Yugito could not help feeling terrified when she learned that similar events might now occur in the real shinobi world.
"To resist fate, all you need is enough raw strength," Makoto said calmly, cutting through her anxiety.
"As long as you and Matatabi become stronger than Naruto and Kurama combined, you won't have anything to fear."
"That makes sense, but..." Yugito agreed with his cold reasoning.
The original plan to find a powerful "owner" operated on the exact same principle.
Since their own strength was insufficient to protect themselves, they would have to rely on someone more powerful.
Makoto was now saying essentially the same thing.
The problem was, how in the world was Yugito supposed to become stronger than Uzumaki Naruto?
Ignoring Naruto's current ridiculous strength for the moment, Yugito might be able to temporarily gain the upper hand through her superior teamwork with Matatabi and her greater combat experience.
But what about the future?
The Tailed Beasts and jinchūriki all knew Naruto's true identity now.
He was the prophesied reincarnation of Asura, the Sage of Six Paths' younger son, and the literal Child of Prophecy spoken of by the Great Toad Sage.
"Don't rush. Once we finish eating, I'll take you to meet a few people."
"..."
After dinner, Makoto brought the visibly anxious Yugito to a secured training ground to meet Rin, Fū, and the others.
One was the Three-Tails' jinchūriki, who had perfectly mastered a controllable Baryon Mode and was now training in senjutsu.
The other was the Seven-Tails' jinchūriki, who had successfully mastered Tailed Beast Sage Mode and was now training in Baryon Mode.
"These two specific powers are your current opportunities to surpass Naruto." Makoto explained both absolute forms to Yugito.
Kurama was presently manipulating Naruto, deliberately preventing him from reaching the monstrous level he had attained during the final battle at the Valley of the End in the original timeline.
Likewise, Kurama had absolutely no opportunity to learn the advanced physics of nuclear fusion and therefore could not develop Baryon Mode.
As long as Yugito mastered either one of these forms, she would possess enough raw power to crush Naruto while he was still using Kurama's power below the level of a perfect jinchūriki.
If she mastered both, then even if the Sage of Six Paths personally descended from the heavens to hand Naruto another ridiculous, unearned power-up, she could still kick his ass.
"'Current'?" The specific word Yugito noticed was "current."
"Yes, current. What's strange about that?" Makoto looked at her. "Unless Naruto reaches a certain level and permanently starts slacking off, if you stop improving, of course he'll eventually catch up. Just because Naruto can't train in these two forms now doesn't mean he'll never be able to.
Your only advantage is that the slow bird can start flying early. You need to remain one step ahead of Naruto forever. Only then can you stay permanently undefeated and prevent the prophecy from coming true."
"The slow bird flies first, huh? I suppose you're right." Yugito smiled bitterly.
She had once been so immensely proud and confident in her own abilities.
But in this bloodline-dominated shinobi world, her natural talent meant absolutely nothing before the chosen descendants of the Sage of Six Paths.
She truly had no choice but to exploit this brief window of opportunity and start much earlier than Naruto.
Fortunately, Yugito hailed from Kumogakure and was highly practical.
Unlike Neji, she did not obsess endlessly over whether she deserved to be called a genius. She had indeed been a genius once, one of the most outstanding people of her generation.
So what?
Being a mature adult meant having the tactical courage to admit when one lacked talent compared to literal demigods.
"Could I... learn only Baryon Mode first?" Yugito turned her head aside, looking slightly embarrassed.
"Uh..." Makoto exchanged knowing glances with Rin and Fū.
All three immediately understood exactly why Yugito asked to skip the Sage Mode shortcut.
"Fine. Decide for yourself. You three can talk it over." Since Rin and Fū were present, Makoto saw no need to explain the embarrassing mechanics any further and left the task to them.
The exact moment he departed, Fū's lively personality could no longer be restrained.
She immediately hooked an arm around Yugito's and gleefully informed her that she did not actually need to use the humiliating shortcut.
...
Several days later, in Iwagakure, Rōshi unexpectedly became the first person to perfectly master Sage Mode.
Because he had suffered a massive falling out with Ōnoki and spent years wandering alone through the harsh wilderness, Rōshi had long grown accustomed to maintaining a perfectly calm, isolated mind.
As a result, he could effortlessly sustain the tranquil sage-like state long after the postnut clarity faded.
Son Gokū needed even less explanation.
After learning from Kurama that Naruto was the Child of Prophecy, he began cooperating with Rōshi wholeheartedly.
The only thing separating Rōshi from a true, perfect jinchūriki was simply a little more time and combat experience working together.
Among all the Tailed Beasts, only Son Gokū's natural habitat had been given a specific name: Suiryūdō.
One glance at the lore was enough to tell that the Sage of Six Paths himself had named it.
Perhaps that was exactly what made the Four-Tails biologically unique.
He had lived for years in an environment absolutely overflowing with dense natural energy.
When man and beast perfectly combined their efforts, they succeeded almost immediately.
Ōnoki was absolutely delighted that Rōshi had mastered it and quickly summoned the Konoha diplomatic group so he could demonstrate.
In a massive open area outside Iwagakure, Rōshi transformed completely into the giant Four-Tails and aggressively activated Sage Mode.
Natural energy surged toward him at an astonishing speed.
Starting from the top of his massive head and rapidly spreading across his entire body, Son Gokū's dark-red fur gradually turned blindingly golden and stood straight up.
He looked exactly like a giant ape version of a Super Saiyan!
"WHAT?! How is that possible?!" Naruto was the most shocked person present.
Kurama had clearly, explicitly told him that Tailed Beasts and jinchūriki absolutely could not practice Sage Mode together!
"Kurama, what the hell is going on?!" Naruto hurriedly demanded, screaming at the Nine-Tails inside his mental space.
---------
Read 40 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator